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Monday, June 15, 2009

Wishing for Summer

Just a note from earlier - for those of you who don't like rhubarb, or if the supermarkets by your mom's house don't have rhubarb, those bars are FANTASTIC when you use peach instead. Peach and strawberry bars....mmmmm....... They were a hit last night.

Another note from this weekend, Thatboy and I don't have kids. As most of you know, this makes us excellent at giving parenting advice. Here are some of our hints and tips for those of you that are parents.1) "Summer vacation" does not imply a vacation from being parents. It's a 365 day a year job. The pay sucks, there's no appreciation of your hard work, and there's no such thing as a vacation.2) If you plan on going to a party that is going to last well past midnight - leave your kids at home. Get a sitter, whatever. Kids don't need to be up at 1 AM in the morning. Even if it is summer. See #1.3) If for some bizarre reason you are forced to bring your kids to a party that goes on well past midnight, and for some reason you find it necessary to stay until the very very end of the party, keep your small children inside. It's not really appropriate for children under 10 to be running up and down the street at 1AM pretending to be ambulances, cowboys, and other loud creations. Not only is there a pretty good chance they're going to be hit by a drunk driver who isn't expecting to see children running in the street - but there's also an almost 100% chance they're going to wake up all the neighbors who might want to be sleeping around that time. See #1.

The sun finally came out yesterday and we took advantage by going to the movies and eating a nice heavy meal. Sounds backwards right? Well, yesterday Thatmom had graduation so she was gone all morning. Thatboy and I took advantage of this by surfing (him) and going on a long run (me). Then we headed over to Thatdad's grave for a little visit. So we did get some outside time. I always get a "now what" feeling when visiting Thatdad's grave. Like I should feel closer to him, or something should happen, but usually it just leaves me feeling empty - no different than how I feel on any given moment.

We also decided it was the best time to go see UP. Thatmom is not a fan of anything animated. Most of the time Thatboy and I would bring Thatdad to movies like UP to save Thatmom from getting dragged. The movie finished right after graduation ended so the timing couldn't have been better. As for the heavy meal, Thatmom had been talking about corned beef and cabbage for weeks. I had made it for St. Patrick's Day...or rather, the weekend before since we don't really celebrate St. Patrick's Day in Thathouse. The past month Thatmom has been having a craving, so corned beef and cabbage it was.

Instead of leaving you with a heavy meal recipe, I thought I would try to keep the sun flowing with one of my favorite summer meals - grilled chicken with grilled corn. Thatboy and I are both into things with some spiciness, so I throw chipotle chili powder into a lot of our summertime meals. It adds flavor, spice, and a touch of smokiness.